Tarasova Leads KU Friday at Big 12 Outdoors
May 15, 2009
Day One Results 
LUBBOCK, Texas – Zlata Tarasova placed fourth in the women’s hammer throw with a season-best toss of 57.59 meters (188-11 feet) to lead Kansas on day one of the 2009 Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Terry & Linda Fuller track.
Tarasova, a senior from Togliatti, Russia, scored five points for the Jayhawks with her performance, an improvement on her already regional-qualifying mark.
“Zlata set the pace for our women’s team,” Kansas head coach Stanley Redwine said. “She did an excellent job. Getting fourth in this competition is really good. She had a season-best performance, so we’re definitely excited. She made points where some didn’t, and that’s what being a good team is all about, some people stepping up where others don’t. She did a great job today.”
In the women’s 10,000 meters, Kara Windisch finished in 11th place, followed by Amanda Miller in 12th. Windisch, a sophomore from Overland Park, Kan., clocked in at 38:11.29 in her first ever time to run the 10K. Miller, also a sophomore from Overland Park, Kan., finished with a time of 38:14.60.
Sophomore Nick Caprario took 13th place in the men’s 10,000 meters with a time of 32:22.25, followed by freshman Kaleb Humphreys in 16th (32:58.65), junior Dan Van Orsdel in 20th (33:57.81) and senior Brock Ternes in 21st (34:24.65).
Through five events in the men’s decathlon, freshman Corbin Kratovil and junior Jacob Breth stand in 12th place and 14th place, respectively. Kratovil recorded personal bests in the high jump (1.92 meters [6-03.50 feet]) and 400 meters (51.22), while Breth posted personal bests in the shot put (12.88 meters [42-03.25 feet]) and 400 meters (49.47).
With day one in the books, the action will really heat up for Kansas on Saturday.
“Tomorrow is huge for us,” Redwine explained. “We have some finals tomorrow, and for the ones that have prelims, if we can’t get it done tomorrow there will be no Sunday. We have to approach tomorrow like it’s a final. We have to do well tomorrow in order to do well on Sunday. So we’re looking forward to going out and competing our best. The athletes are ready to compete and fired up. They understand it’s a tough competition for everyone, but someone is going to do well and it may as well be us.”
Day two in Lubbock begins Saturday at 10 a.m. CDT with the decathlon 110-meter hurdles. Live results can be found at http://www.flashresults.com/2009_Meets/outdoor/Big12/. A full recap can be found at www.kuathletics.com upon completion of the day’s events.
